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Rapture
A powerful, sensuous new novel from the critically acclaimed author of ‘Evening’.
'Mesmerising.' Vogue
'The bedspread was sloughing off the foot of the bed, the white sheets were as flat as paper. This is not what she'd pictured when she asked him over for lunch today. It really wasn't.'
Taking one single interlude – two bodies entwined on a bed at midday, lovers rekindling an old affair – Susan Minot's new novel chronicles a relationship from the alternating perspectives of a man and a women.
Thoughts cascade through Benjamin's mind, memories of the chest thumping moment when he first met Kay; of the night they shared under the mosquito net on the pink bed in Oaxaca; and of his fiancé, Vanessa, and the simple choices that face him. Memories unspool in Kay's mind too. She recalls the dangerous lure of Benjamin, the man who drove her scepticism away; the dread and the thrill of the first night they spent together; and now she asks herself, how has she let him slip back into her life like this?
Graphic, provocative and reminiscent of Hanif Kureishi ‘Intimacy’, Susan Minot's striking novel dissects a love affair in breathtaking detail.
'Mesmerising.' Vogue
'The bedspread was sloughing off the foot of the bed, the white sheets were as flat as paper. This is not what she'd pictured when she asked him over for lunch today. It really wasn't.'
Taking one single interlude – two bodies entwined on a bed at midday, lovers rekindling an old affair – Susan Minot's new novel chronicles a relationship from the alternating perspectives of a man and a women.
Thoughts cascade through Benjamin's mind, memories of the chest thumping moment when he first met Kay; of the night they shared under the mosquito net on the pink bed in Oaxaca; and of his fiancé, Vanessa, and the simple choices that face him. Memories unspool in Kay's mind too. She recalls the dangerous lure of Benjamin, the man who drove her scepticism away; the dread and the thrill of the first night they spent together; and now she asks herself, how has she let him slip back into her life like this?
Graphic, provocative and reminiscent of Hanif Kureishi ‘Intimacy’, Susan Minot's striking novel dissects a love affair in breathtaking detail.
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First published January 1, 2002
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About the author
Susan Minot
28 books324 followersSusan Minot is an award-winning novelist and short story writer whose books include Monkeys, Folly, Lust & Other Stories, and Evening, which was adapted into the feature film of the same name starring Meryl Streep. Minot was born in Boston and raised in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts, attended Brown University, and received her MFA in creative writing from Columbia University. She currently lives with her daughter in both New York City and an island off the coast of Maine.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 130 reviews
May 21, 2013
she blows, and her thoughts never wander far from misguided contemplation of her object of affection. he gets blown, and his thoughts capture the various rationalizations of a self-absorbed, self-important cad. should blow jobs really be this tortuous? this short novel never really gets beyond its central conceit, and the basic lameness of the Longest Blowjob Story Ever becomes increasingly, depressingly apparent.
this could have been good. the complicated feelings involved in post-break-up sex is one that most folks can relate to - all the unresolved problems and unrealized goals are a potentially fascinating subject. and yet the protagonists are depicted in a way that makes the reader less than interested in empathizing - a real lost opportunity there. i found the privileged, deluded characters to be distinctly boring and nothing was learned. if anything, i would have preferred thoughts more realistically grounded in the act itself, at least that would have allowed for some genuine amusement. after all, this is basically a guy getting head from a gal as their thoughts roam around, and so stretching it out until it becomes a lengthy and strenuously studied recounting of two unfulfilled lives turns a prosaic act into something very pretentious. the author's central idea soon wore thin and there was certainly no satisfaction at the end.
worst bj ever?
this could have been good. the complicated feelings involved in post-break-up sex is one that most folks can relate to - all the unresolved problems and unrealized goals are a potentially fascinating subject. and yet the protagonists are depicted in a way that makes the reader less than interested in empathizing - a real lost opportunity there. i found the privileged, deluded characters to be distinctly boring and nothing was learned. if anything, i would have preferred thoughts more realistically grounded in the act itself, at least that would have allowed for some genuine amusement. after all, this is basically a guy getting head from a gal as their thoughts roam around, and so stretching it out until it becomes a lengthy and strenuously studied recounting of two unfulfilled lives turns a prosaic act into something very pretentious. the author's central idea soon wore thin and there was certainly no satisfaction at the end.
worst bj ever?
February 25, 2010
I tried. I really did. I tried for thirty-seven pages (the book is only 115 pages long) but I decided to throw in the kaafiyeh. I figured I'd go buy some birdseed and feed the sparrows out back or something, as sort of an expiatory gesture for having wasted as much time as I did reading this far in a clueless novel. I don't know why I picked this book up. Maybe because I believed the author would have something to say about rapture, which is an interesting psychological state. Maybe because her surname means "kitten" in French; I figured this would mean she would try harder to write intelligently. After thirty-seven pages, the only memorable thing was a funny quotation by Oscar Wilde she had one of her characters remember. It's a love triangle. A very boring, very pedestrian love triangle. Engaged man who owes his fiancee quite a great deal falls in love (if it is even that) with a coworker. The author tries to excuse the pedestrian nature of the writing and the pedestrian scenario by having her characters do things like make love under pink mosquito netting in an exotic location (while they're on set). This does not work. No way. They might as well be lapping up each other's concupiscent curds in the bathroom at the nearest Burger King. At least there might be some interesting graffiti to read there, as the reader's attention wanders off from the mental drivel that passes for insight and introspection in this novel. Scilicet, try these few sentences: "He'd fallen in love with someone else and suddenly she was crucial to him. Her body was what he needed. He couldn't help it." There are italics there but I'll spare you the unnecessary emotional straining that might cause; you might rupture something with all that sincerity and urgency. Your iris can be herniated. Did you know that? Well damn. Might happen here with all these torrid italics. I find this sort of writing literally mindnumbing. I could feel my mind falling asleep like a foot that you've curled under your ass while you're watching television, that half-assed, potato chip-eating yoga you do on the couch: "She was aware that she was responding, in part, to the effect of touch. Touch had a particularly compelling quality when it came from a person who's been away for a long time." This novel (or novella) is on auto-pilot. Anything is fair game to say to fill up the page. I'm surprised she didn't write, "The sun rose, and she realized that when the sun rises it goes higher in the sky. She wondered at the oddness of that." You know a novel's bad when you start hearing the words the characters speak in a sort of Simlish, when you start wishing this were The Sims, instead of a pretentious novel with nothing to say but BUY ME. More dumb bunnies living charmed lives in New York who don't know what to do with themselves. Even though they have money and live in New York. When did Knopf become the Dumb Bunny Ranch? Start midsentence here: "...and under that pink mosquito net he'd felt that he'd very possibly found the woman of his life." I think it was the fellatio scene that ruined it for me. I think that's why I stopped reading. She has this scene where she panders by putting a little sliver of male pornography in the mind of the woman giving the blowjob, because she's having trouble keeping interested as she's doing this. And that's when the lighbulb (one of the squiggly, coiled, energy-efficient type) in my brain came on. And I realized this IS ME. This is how I feel reading this book. She should have just stopped sucking. The way I just stopped reading. It's really just a Harlequin romance in Knopf's clothing. Don't be fooled by the Joan Didion blurb. Joan probably only made it to page eight.
December 18, 2023
I admired Rapture more than I liked it. The setup was a compelling one and the execution technically worked but I found the story as a whole somewhat bloodless - which is not to say that there wasn't some good writing. Ms. Minot had some impressive insights and some pretty sentences as well. Not a bad book, just not a great one.
I did - as I always do - find the opposite-sex perspective view of thoughts interesting. When a woman writes a woman's thoughts on love and sex, I take it as gospel. How can I not? I'm not a woman so I read it fascinated at the letting-behind-the-curtain of it; however, when a woman writes a man's thoughts on love and sex, I cannot help but compare them to my own. Ms. Minot did not write from a perspective that I share and it took me slightly out of the story. Benjamin may have seemingly acted like "men" but his thoughts didn't conjure many of my own and his emotions seemed just as wayward from my experience
On this point, I am not criticizing - I love when authors try this, it was simply a miss for me on this one
I did - as I always do - find the opposite-sex perspective view of thoughts interesting. When a woman writes a woman's thoughts on love and sex, I take it as gospel. How can I not? I'm not a woman so I read it fascinated at the letting-behind-the-curtain of it; however, when a woman writes a man's thoughts on love and sex, I cannot help but compare them to my own. Ms. Minot did not write from a perspective that I share and it took me slightly out of the story. Benjamin may have seemingly acted like "men" but his thoughts didn't conjure many of my own and his emotions seemed just as wayward from my experience
On this point, I am not criticizing - I love when authors try this, it was simply a miss for me on this one
April 19, 2019
This is a novel which examines a romantic relationship from both the woman’s and the man’s perspective. The catch to this book is that the whole story occurs over the course of a single sexual interlude between the pair. The book is written in brief passages that alternate between the female and the male points of view. It is not a great story. It is not a bad story. The writing is not great, nor is it bad. The story is suggestive but not graphic.
My guess is that the author had the idea of writing a story that takes place entirely during one sex act, but she found that there just isn’t enough framework to drive an entire novel. Some of her insights on relationships are quite perceptive, but this would have been better as a short story or as part of a larger book.
My guess is that the author had the idea of writing a story that takes place entirely during one sex act, but she found that there just isn’t enough framework to drive an entire novel. Some of her insights on relationships are quite perceptive, but this would have been better as a short story or as part of a larger book.
October 17, 2012
It seems most reviewers were only able to focus on one aspect of this book and then, to either dismiss the sanctity of the act and view it as an immature, horny 15 year old would or to become enraged and then analyze only that portion of the book rather than the story in it's entirety. Shame, they really missed out.
Think about it...you meet someone and they become the highlight of your day, their love is now a marker of what came before and what followed after. You adore them, worship them in your own way, and can't imagine a world that they don't exist in. And years later, you are no longer recognizable to each other. Where did that love go? What happened to all the hope, respect and affection you once held and saw reflected back to you? Was it ever real or did you just make them up to hurt yourself?
Here are two people destined to fail and yet, you want to root for them. Two people - one a cheater who only feels through another's eyes and the other disillusioned within her own reality, completely devoid of emotional accountability - but I still wanted them to recapture what they once had. I wanted them to get over their crap and find their happy ending. And yes, the story is told over the course of a single, sexual act and that's what made it so profound. That two people can be so entwined in an act of communion, so intimate, and yet both couldn't be further from each other. Benjamin swimming in his guilt, his realization that this woman was never love, but a woman who saw him the way he'd always wanted to be seen and that's what he loved. Kay moves between the lack of all the feelings she wants to feel but is unable and her desire to never feel again, especially not for this man. In fact, the only way she can be close to Benjamin and permit herself to show affection is to remove her identity completely and envision herself as a whore fulfilling a need.
Sad and ugly as it all is, it's honest. Props where props are due.
Think about it...you meet someone and they become the highlight of your day, their love is now a marker of what came before and what followed after. You adore them, worship them in your own way, and can't imagine a world that they don't exist in. And years later, you are no longer recognizable to each other. Where did that love go? What happened to all the hope, respect and affection you once held and saw reflected back to you? Was it ever real or did you just make them up to hurt yourself?
Here are two people destined to fail and yet, you want to root for them. Two people - one a cheater who only feels through another's eyes and the other disillusioned within her own reality, completely devoid of emotional accountability - but I still wanted them to recapture what they once had. I wanted them to get over their crap and find their happy ending. And yes, the story is told over the course of a single, sexual act and that's what made it so profound. That two people can be so entwined in an act of communion, so intimate, and yet both couldn't be further from each other. Benjamin swimming in his guilt, his realization that this woman was never love, but a woman who saw him the way he'd always wanted to be seen and that's what he loved. Kay moves between the lack of all the feelings she wants to feel but is unable and her desire to never feel again, especially not for this man. In fact, the only way she can be close to Benjamin and permit herself to show affection is to remove her identity completely and envision herself as a whore fulfilling a need.
Sad and ugly as it all is, it's honest. Props where props are due.
February 27, 2019
I'm shocked at the average rating! This book is an unforgettable piece of writing artistry, complex, erotic, tragic, and reflective all at the same time.
June 18, 2019
Une nouvelle bien ficelée, facile à lire.
May 21, 2011
I'm a sucker for a sales table at a bookstore, and am always willing to take a chance on a book by an author who has already had rave reviews for a previous book. I should, however, learn to pass by the books where all the comments on the jacket are for the previous book, and not the one I'm picking up, so that I can miss such duds as Susan Minot's Rapture.
::: Benjamin and Kay :::
Rapture actually takes place in a single afternoon; two ex-lovers, Benjamin and Kay, have met for lunch and end up in bed together. During the course of the longest and most clinical session of oral sex I've ever read about, the two reflect on their pasts and their current view of their relationship, such as it is. Benjamin is an independent filmmaker with one movie to his credit, and Kay was the production designer on the movie.
During their time together on the movie, Benjamin began the relationship with Kay, even though he had a rich fiancee, Vanessa, back at home in New York. Convinced that he was no longer in love with Vanessa, he stayed with her nonetheless because of her financial support and emotional forbearance, but felt as if he was falling in love with Kay.
Kay knew about Vanessa, but had the affair with Benjamin anyway, and then spent years trying to work out her feelings for him and how to move past him, occasionally running into him and sleeping with him along the way. During the afternoon in which Rapture takes place, Kay and Benjamin explore their innermost thoughts about each other and themselves internally while the excruciatingly long sex act takes place.
::: Fifth Grade Health Class Was Sexier :::
The conceit of the novel starts with the first paragraph, which I'm assuming is supposed to shock and titillate the reader. Look! She's performing oral sex on him! And they are thinking about things! In all honesty, it was the most boring sex act I think that has ever been written, and I got through the book (a quick read at only 116 pages, thankfully) by occasionally calling out to my [ex-]husband, "Page 75!" and he would ask "Are they done yet?" That's a sorry state of affairs for a book that is supposed to be centered on this one act, isn't it?
Compounding the astonishingly boring sex are the stream-of-consciousness inner ramblings of two of the most self-absorbed and stereotypical characters ever to inhabit the pages of a book. Benjamin is your typical skunk of a man: cheating on his fiancee, leading on another woman, and then, as if that isn't enough, once the fiancee leaves him as well, he starts partying hard with tons of one-night stands. Just in case the reader was confused about what a snake he is, you know, especially considering that he isn't above sleeping with Kay or Vanessa, even though he's not with either one of them, Minot throws in a story about climbing up a fire escape to some co-ed's room at 2 AM, sleeping with HER and then being incensed that she left him a note about being used, because she should have KNOWN any guy coming to her room at 2 AM was there to use her. Drive that point right into the ground!
Kay is also stereotypical, channeling all her hopes for a real relationship into whatever occasions she manages to sleep with Benjamin, and viewing this particular afternoon as an expression of her love for him akin to worship. The most involvement I had in either of the characters was my desire to grab this girl by her hair, slap her silly, and ask why on earth she would be attracted to this loser, much less sleep with him.
However good her previous novels may have been, Minot has totally missed the mark with Rapture. I can't remember the last time I was so happy to finish a book and know I'd never have to read it again.
This review previously published at Epinions: http://www1.epinions.com/review/Raptu...
::: Benjamin and Kay :::
Rapture actually takes place in a single afternoon; two ex-lovers, Benjamin and Kay, have met for lunch and end up in bed together. During the course of the longest and most clinical session of oral sex I've ever read about, the two reflect on their pasts and their current view of their relationship, such as it is. Benjamin is an independent filmmaker with one movie to his credit, and Kay was the production designer on the movie.
During their time together on the movie, Benjamin began the relationship with Kay, even though he had a rich fiancee, Vanessa, back at home in New York. Convinced that he was no longer in love with Vanessa, he stayed with her nonetheless because of her financial support and emotional forbearance, but felt as if he was falling in love with Kay.
Kay knew about Vanessa, but had the affair with Benjamin anyway, and then spent years trying to work out her feelings for him and how to move past him, occasionally running into him and sleeping with him along the way. During the afternoon in which Rapture takes place, Kay and Benjamin explore their innermost thoughts about each other and themselves internally while the excruciatingly long sex act takes place.
::: Fifth Grade Health Class Was Sexier :::
The conceit of the novel starts with the first paragraph, which I'm assuming is supposed to shock and titillate the reader. Look! She's performing oral sex on him! And they are thinking about things! In all honesty, it was the most boring sex act I think that has ever been written, and I got through the book (a quick read at only 116 pages, thankfully) by occasionally calling out to my [ex-]husband, "Page 75!" and he would ask "Are they done yet?" That's a sorry state of affairs for a book that is supposed to be centered on this one act, isn't it?
Compounding the astonishingly boring sex are the stream-of-consciousness inner ramblings of two of the most self-absorbed and stereotypical characters ever to inhabit the pages of a book. Benjamin is your typical skunk of a man: cheating on his fiancee, leading on another woman, and then, as if that isn't enough, once the fiancee leaves him as well, he starts partying hard with tons of one-night stands. Just in case the reader was confused about what a snake he is, you know, especially considering that he isn't above sleeping with Kay or Vanessa, even though he's not with either one of them, Minot throws in a story about climbing up a fire escape to some co-ed's room at 2 AM, sleeping with HER and then being incensed that she left him a note about being used, because she should have KNOWN any guy coming to her room at 2 AM was there to use her. Drive that point right into the ground!
Kay is also stereotypical, channeling all her hopes for a real relationship into whatever occasions she manages to sleep with Benjamin, and viewing this particular afternoon as an expression of her love for him akin to worship. The most involvement I had in either of the characters was my desire to grab this girl by her hair, slap her silly, and ask why on earth she would be attracted to this loser, much less sleep with him.
However good her previous novels may have been, Minot has totally missed the mark with Rapture. I can't remember the last time I was so happy to finish a book and know I'd never have to read it again.
This review previously published at Epinions: http://www1.epinions.com/review/Raptu...
June 16, 2014
This is a small, slim book that you can (and should) read in an afternoon. The entire plot takes place during a very long and tiring act of fellatio between two people, while each character has flashbacks to past moments in their relationship. The two, Kay and Benjamin, are back in bed together one afternoon after several months of no contact with each other. They first slept together while working on a movie in Mexico, but Benjamin was engaged to another woman who he had been dating for 11 years, and despite the fact that was lovesick for Kay (and was actively having sex with her), he couldn't leave his fiance Vanessa. He eventually does, but the timing never works out, and Kay and Benjamin have never been a real couple. In bed that afternoon, Kay feels a mystical union with Ben, while Ben feels guilty and hollow. Then, Ben...comes...and the book kind of ends. This book would have been boring if a) It had been longer and b) If Susan Minot weren't so excellent at describing the way people behave and feel in intimate relationships. The book is relate-able for anyone who's experienced lust, doubt, fear, and security in an intimate relationship...so pretty much everyone.
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November 10, 2008A blowjob. The entire story takes place during the course of a blowjob. Two ex-lovers reunite for lunch- and she ends up going down on him in the bedroom. Minot alternates between the inner dialogue of each person (the sucked and the suckee) and we see how disconnected they are from each other even though they're connected by this most intimate physical act. Is this just another example of how nonchalant and irrelevant the blow job has become? Is the modern equivalent of kissing really now oral sex? Well- probably not. Minot's prose flows relatively smoothly- although I never completely got in a groove with it. That could've just been me- as I was terribly stressed and anxious while reading. She managing to keeps things moving and interesting by injecting back story wherever appropriate. Nicely done. An interesting little book.
June 7, 2019
Oh Susan Minot, I love your writing so much. You are so smart and so thoughtful and deep, but this book .... not for me. First of all, this slim 1-sitting novel takes place over the course of a single sex act between two on-again, off-again lovers and the details, while not graphic, were disconcerting. Secondly, the lovers were not very likeable. Normally that would be OK with me if there were great character or plot development, but this is more of a rumination so I needed to like the ruminators (if that's a word). I'll come back to this author I love, but, a little bit icky.
December 15, 2020
Forgettable.
5/10
5/10
October 13, 2010
Susan Minot’s book titled Rapture is the story of a man named Benjamin and a woman named Kay who had an affair. The story takes place over the course of a blowjob. Ben was engaged to Vanessa, but falls out of love with her; after being with her for 11 years, he meets Kay while doing a job in Mexico. They fall for each other. After months of no involvement, they meet for lunch and Kay gives Ben a blowjob. Flashbacks throughout the text provide the backstory in which we hear Kay and Ben’s side of the story. What Kay tried to break off after returning to New York is what Ben won’t let go. What she thought was nothing but casual has become very serious to her. The conclusion reveals just how disconnected these ex-lovers are despite their physical connection over the course of oral sex; furthermore it reveals the many issues that can take place in a relationship and the many possible misunderstanding between lovers.
The setting is immediately revealed. Even before we know the characters of the story, we know that there’s a man in a woman’s bed that he hasn’t been in in over a year but it is familiar to his past. The actions are immediately revealed: within the 1st paragraph it reads, “eyes closed, face slack, he might indeed have been dead save for the figure also naked embracing his lower body and swiveling her head in a sensual way” (Minot 3). The pacing and the straightforwardness of the text can somewhat throw readers off. The confusion that this pacing can create is similar to the confusion of a fast paced relationship like that of Ben and Kay. Minot addresses the many issues and misfortunes of love; she addresses the pain and thought provoking confusion it can cause individuals in search of true love. “One minute he was watching Kay’s shiny eyes in a mob of people and six weeks later he was knocking on the ocher door… waking her, to ask if he could come talk to her….which he didn’t say was the fact that he couldn’t stay away from her” (Minot 15). While Ben appears to be in love with Kay back in time, over the course of this blowjob, Kay is ignorant to the fact that Ben has lied about Vanessa; he’s trying to win her back.
Ben and Kay are reminiscing in 2 very similar, yet different worlds that reveal how distant these lovers are despite their physical closeness in proximity. When Kay and Ben saw each other at the Christmas party Kay talked to Ben with the hopes of discussing them and furthermore, love. Ben refused to talk about them; he stated that she was out of his mind. This raises the question of whether it was really love or not that they felt for each other. I argue that it definitely was no love that Ben possessed for Kay, rather lust and an escape. He loved Vanessa. On page 113 Ben thinks if he has any good left in him since “it had all burst into flames when he’d not been able to change his life for a person he loved”. That person was Vanessa. He’d not been able to leave Kay alone and get over his lust for her in order to love his fiancée.
The setting is immediately revealed. Even before we know the characters of the story, we know that there’s a man in a woman’s bed that he hasn’t been in in over a year but it is familiar to his past. The actions are immediately revealed: within the 1st paragraph it reads, “eyes closed, face slack, he might indeed have been dead save for the figure also naked embracing his lower body and swiveling her head in a sensual way” (Minot 3). The pacing and the straightforwardness of the text can somewhat throw readers off. The confusion that this pacing can create is similar to the confusion of a fast paced relationship like that of Ben and Kay. Minot addresses the many issues and misfortunes of love; she addresses the pain and thought provoking confusion it can cause individuals in search of true love. “One minute he was watching Kay’s shiny eyes in a mob of people and six weeks later he was knocking on the ocher door… waking her, to ask if he could come talk to her….which he didn’t say was the fact that he couldn’t stay away from her” (Minot 15). While Ben appears to be in love with Kay back in time, over the course of this blowjob, Kay is ignorant to the fact that Ben has lied about Vanessa; he’s trying to win her back.
Ben and Kay are reminiscing in 2 very similar, yet different worlds that reveal how distant these lovers are despite their physical closeness in proximity. When Kay and Ben saw each other at the Christmas party Kay talked to Ben with the hopes of discussing them and furthermore, love. Ben refused to talk about them; he stated that she was out of his mind. This raises the question of whether it was really love or not that they felt for each other. I argue that it definitely was no love that Ben possessed for Kay, rather lust and an escape. He loved Vanessa. On page 113 Ben thinks if he has any good left in him since “it had all burst into flames when he’d not been able to change his life for a person he loved”. That person was Vanessa. He’d not been able to leave Kay alone and get over his lust for her in order to love his fiancée.
August 19, 2007
I know a book this small is meant to be read in one sitting, with a cup of tea or something. I read it on breaks at work, and ended up not reading it for a week or more as work got too busy for me to take breaks.
I found this book very well observed. A lot of the emotions described felt familiar. The language in some spots was quite lovely as well. For these two reasons, I gave the book three stars.
Yet I did not care. Whenever I was reading this book, I could not stop feeling that these two characters were terribly self-involved and in some ways uninteresting. I think even if I did attempt to read this in one sitting I would have become too exasperated with these people to do so.
I found this book very well observed. A lot of the emotions described felt familiar. The language in some spots was quite lovely as well. For these two reasons, I gave the book three stars.
Yet I did not care. Whenever I was reading this book, I could not stop feeling that these two characters were terribly self-involved and in some ways uninteresting. I think even if I did attempt to read this in one sitting I would have become too exasperated with these people to do so.
October 19, 2009
Listen, I really like the other Susan Minot books I've read--in fact, Evening is one of my favorites of all time--but this one blows, not to put too fine a point on it. I mean, it's composed entirely of the reminiscences two boring and selfish people have while the woman is giving the man a blowie for old time's sake. (For the record: how long can you suck a dick before you get lockjaw? Probably not as long as it took to read this turd.) I'm being crass because this book doesn't deserve better. What was homegirl thinking when she wrote this?
February 9, 2014
I've read Minot's collection of short stories, Lust; her novel, Evening; and now this. This was definitely the most difficult to get through. I think Minot's strongest writing lies in her short stories. Nothing was driving the plot except the most drawn out blow job of all time, save for a few intermittent rests when Kay got tired. No kidding about not sympathizing with the characters. I hated Benjamin, although sometimes I saw glimpses of myself in Kay. Overall I wouldn't recommend this book. Maybe give Minot's short stories a shot.
December 14, 2014
RAPTURE is a short novel that tells the story of a relationship, narrated alternately by the male and female characters. What is unusual here is that while the back story covers several years, the front story unfolds over the unspecified time it takes for her to give him a blow job. Minot is truly skilled in writing about sex and getting at male/female attitude differences. But the conceit here didn’t hold up for an entire novel. In many ways this felt to me like a long short story.
December 20, 2007
Like the last Seinfeld episode, a pretty good idea but imperfectly exectuted.
May 2, 2012
The longest blow job of all time
Currently reading
July 10, 2014This book is just awful... It's horribly written with little to no feel for the characters true identities or an actual plot. I couldn't force myself to slug through all the crap to finish it.
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May 31, 2019A man and a woman reconstruct their romantic history over the course of the world's longest blowjob. Actually pretty good, despite the premise. A thoughtful and largely accurate depiction of the romantic mindset of 21st century proto-hipsters. It was actually a little too close to home for me, a scarred survivor of love in our tarnished time, but I think most readers would find it more compelling.
June 27, 2019
One of the best books I've read in a long time.
February 16, 2011
"Rapture" is a short story by Susan Minot that tells the tale of two lovers, Kay and Benjamin, and how they come to terms with where they stand in the present. The most development in the story is told through the past events shared between the two. Benjamin, a director that's having a tough time getting off the ground, struggles to figure out what it means to love. He also utilizes women for his own pleasure, with only Kay (the other protagonist) and his ex-fiancé, Vanessa, having any true merit to them. Kay, on the other hand, is much more in control of herself and who she knows herself to be. Setting up the present timeline in the story with the act of fellatio, Minot takes her readers on a trip to see just how these two characters found themselves in their current position.
"Rapture" is, in some ways, less of a plot-driven piece, and instead it focuses on character development and the theme of love. Mainly, how different people react to "love," how it dictates their reactions, and how they themselves feel about the concept. Over the course of this short story, both Kay and Ben try to decide how love has led them to their current act of pleasure. The character aspect comes into play throughout the numerous memories that are almost haphazardly woven throughout the story. In some instances they do not occur chronologically. There may be some "main" timeline set for the flashbacks, with the more important events being displayed for readers in a chronological fashion, but there are many instances in which smaller details from longer ago are put more towards the end, and vice versa. It's realistic in that Ben and Kay are validating the particular memories with whatever facts they can pull at any given moment, much like how anyone would. While this might sound a bit daunting, Minot manages to pull it off. There are a few key moments to clue readers in on their exact point in the timeline, namely: Mexico, the elevator, and the apartments of Kay and Vanessa. Both characters see the idea of love in a different way, and their experiences/perceptions are what lead them to logical conclusions for them, and the readers are left to understand how it will be between these two once the story ends.
This isn't to say "Rapture" is flawless. For those that enjoy dialogue, this story might disappoint. Very rarely is any line of dialogue used in the present time, with only one, maybe two at the most. (Granted, they aren't in a situation that allows for much discussion, but that's not what's important.) As far as flashbacks are concerned, most of the dialogue is explained instead of spoken, with Kay and Ben recalling what was said in vague detail as opposed to the actual words used. Some moments of dialogue to exist. However, these instances are scarce and, when they do arrive, the lines themselves are fragmented sentences.
Also, for those that prefer their endings to have concrete finishes, "Rapture" may not deliver. While the ending can be inferred based on the conclusions both Ben and Kay come to, the ending itself ends abruptly. Readers are not given the satisfaction of seeing the aftermath of the event. Considering how vivid the actions and emotions of Kay and Ben are throughout the flashbacks, ending on such a vague note makes it a little odd.
Overall, Susan Minot's "Rapture" is an enthralling read. The characters are deeply flawed in their own ways, and the duality between males and females is given an interesting, back-to-back representation.
"Rapture" is, in some ways, less of a plot-driven piece, and instead it focuses on character development and the theme of love. Mainly, how different people react to "love," how it dictates their reactions, and how they themselves feel about the concept. Over the course of this short story, both Kay and Ben try to decide how love has led them to their current act of pleasure. The character aspect comes into play throughout the numerous memories that are almost haphazardly woven throughout the story. In some instances they do not occur chronologically. There may be some "main" timeline set for the flashbacks, with the more important events being displayed for readers in a chronological fashion, but there are many instances in which smaller details from longer ago are put more towards the end, and vice versa. It's realistic in that Ben and Kay are validating the particular memories with whatever facts they can pull at any given moment, much like how anyone would. While this might sound a bit daunting, Minot manages to pull it off. There are a few key moments to clue readers in on their exact point in the timeline, namely: Mexico, the elevator, and the apartments of Kay and Vanessa. Both characters see the idea of love in a different way, and their experiences/perceptions are what lead them to logical conclusions for them, and the readers are left to understand how it will be between these two once the story ends.
This isn't to say "Rapture" is flawless. For those that enjoy dialogue, this story might disappoint. Very rarely is any line of dialogue used in the present time, with only one, maybe two at the most. (Granted, they aren't in a situation that allows for much discussion, but that's not what's important.) As far as flashbacks are concerned, most of the dialogue is explained instead of spoken, with Kay and Ben recalling what was said in vague detail as opposed to the actual words used. Some moments of dialogue to exist. However, these instances are scarce and, when they do arrive, the lines themselves are fragmented sentences.
Also, for those that prefer their endings to have concrete finishes, "Rapture" may not deliver. While the ending can be inferred based on the conclusions both Ben and Kay come to, the ending itself ends abruptly. Readers are not given the satisfaction of seeing the aftermath of the event. Considering how vivid the actions and emotions of Kay and Ben are throughout the flashbacks, ending on such a vague note makes it a little odd.
Overall, Susan Minot's "Rapture" is an enthralling read. The characters are deeply flawed in their own ways, and the duality between males and females is given an interesting, back-to-back representation.
October 5, 2011
When I began to read Susan Minot's "Rapture", I was quite taken aback with the opening paragraph, which simply opens to a scene of oral sex being performed. To be honest, I was about to lay the book down and choose another, but I was persistent, I was determined to make it through. As I began to get deeper into the book, I began to see Minot's talent at portraying not the scenery or dialogue, but almost creating a world out of the thoughts and memories of the two lovers/main characters. The story essentially takes place in one day, one shared moment, yet the thoughts of the lovers in that moment allow the reader to trace their story to this moment. And it is the story in the memories that make the novel, make the central moment, everything it is.
Susan Minot has written a variety of different books and short story collections, and I chose her novel "Rapture". As stated above, the bluntness and quite graphic opening did deter me from continuing, yet once the focus shifted from the sexual to the mental, I was instantly enthralled. The thoughts of the male, Benjamin, and the female, Kay, seemed to be honest and real in an almost beautiful way. The main characters were damaged, heavily so. Benjamin was a man who had been with another woman, Vanessa, for over a decade, yet he was also entangled with Kay, who he met while shooting a film. Yet during the majority of the book, Minot painted the scenario as one of beauty, not of guilt. She basically excused Benjamin’s behavior, something women tend to do when the man they love hurts them. Minot summed up what every human being feels at certain times: “Something in his body knew she was going to change things” (Minot 10).
It was that newness that attracted them to each other. Minot paints Benjamin’s relationship with his girlfriend Vanessa as one that traps him, makes him too familiar with the mundane; paints it as routine. Kay, the “other woman” broke that, was fascinating. Yet as they went on, Minot begins to show how the familiarity sinks in, how the pain begins to wear on the characters. As their memories of their lives begin to get more painful and broken, the current moment in which they are remembering becomes less intimate. The memories where they were separated and where Kay denied him access to her were broken up by a sentence on the current moment, namely how separate Benjamin was from what Kay was doing to him.
All of this basically boils down to Minot’s technique in writing this novel. I found her style very interesting and found the way she described Kay and Benjamin made them appear really broken, and really somewhat unlikeable, yet I believe that is what she desired all along. Because while they were pretty unlikeable, they were very relatable. Every human speculates about the other potential prospects the world holds for them, and very few go out and pursue it. Benjamin does, and while he appears to enjoy it, Minot also allows the reader into his thoughts, into where he houses his doubts.
It is those doubts shared by both Kay and Benjamin that makes them human. It is that humanity with which Minot creates this story, this moment, that made the novel so beautiful. Sure, the moment they shared was recklessly formed, yet the memories and their thoughts made the moment what Minot was trying to make it-one last chance, one more shot. Even if it would never again happen, it was theirs, just like the memories, just like their thoughts. This novel was extremely human, and raw, and because of that brash honesty, I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.
Susan Minot has written a variety of different books and short story collections, and I chose her novel "Rapture". As stated above, the bluntness and quite graphic opening did deter me from continuing, yet once the focus shifted from the sexual to the mental, I was instantly enthralled. The thoughts of the male, Benjamin, and the female, Kay, seemed to be honest and real in an almost beautiful way. The main characters were damaged, heavily so. Benjamin was a man who had been with another woman, Vanessa, for over a decade, yet he was also entangled with Kay, who he met while shooting a film. Yet during the majority of the book, Minot painted the scenario as one of beauty, not of guilt. She basically excused Benjamin’s behavior, something women tend to do when the man they love hurts them. Minot summed up what every human being feels at certain times: “Something in his body knew she was going to change things” (Minot 10).
It was that newness that attracted them to each other. Minot paints Benjamin’s relationship with his girlfriend Vanessa as one that traps him, makes him too familiar with the mundane; paints it as routine. Kay, the “other woman” broke that, was fascinating. Yet as they went on, Minot begins to show how the familiarity sinks in, how the pain begins to wear on the characters. As their memories of their lives begin to get more painful and broken, the current moment in which they are remembering becomes less intimate. The memories where they were separated and where Kay denied him access to her were broken up by a sentence on the current moment, namely how separate Benjamin was from what Kay was doing to him.
All of this basically boils down to Minot’s technique in writing this novel. I found her style very interesting and found the way she described Kay and Benjamin made them appear really broken, and really somewhat unlikeable, yet I believe that is what she desired all along. Because while they were pretty unlikeable, they were very relatable. Every human speculates about the other potential prospects the world holds for them, and very few go out and pursue it. Benjamin does, and while he appears to enjoy it, Minot also allows the reader into his thoughts, into where he houses his doubts.
It is those doubts shared by both Kay and Benjamin that makes them human. It is that humanity with which Minot creates this story, this moment, that made the novel so beautiful. Sure, the moment they shared was recklessly formed, yet the memories and their thoughts made the moment what Minot was trying to make it-one last chance, one more shot. Even if it would never again happen, it was theirs, just like the memories, just like their thoughts. This novel was extremely human, and raw, and because of that brash honesty, I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.
Read
February 16, 2011Minot, Susan. “Rapture,”
New York: Knopf, 2002
“Rapture” by Susan Minot introduces two past lovers that have met up for what seems to be the final time in their twisted “relationship.” It begins with the two engaging in sexual activity, but the majority of the story is reflection. The tale recounts the numerous times these two, Kay Bailey and Benjamin Young, had lost themselves within passions of lust for each other, despite any commitments they were in. While Kay and Benjamin both admit at some point to have fallen hopelessly in love with one another, their lives never meshed together at the correct times for a functional relationship to begin. The novel switches points of view between the two and goes in-depth on what each character is thinking. The inner thoughts they have about the other are finally acknowledged within their own minds and throughout the story constant revelations come about. The inner dialogue each has about the history they share continues to shed more and more light onto who they really are. It is as though Minot wished this tale to take more emphasis on character development than a plot and it seems to have worked well.
An interesting wrench thrown into this novel is the fact that Benjamin does have an on again, off again fiancé named Vanessa. There were times when Benjamin was with Vanessa that he went on a secret rendezvous with Kay, thus creating tension within his own complex. While he admits to having love for both women, he explains how he’s fallen out of love with his fiancé, but is plagued by the guilt that revolves around his situation. Minot executes this perfectly by including just enough of Vanessa’s story within Benjamin’s thoughts to exemplify to the reader how perplexed this man was. He cannot decide which woman is better for him, the one who has been there throughout his life and has been his rock, or the one who ultimately makes him feel alive. This is probably an instance that has occurred within several people’s lives and while reading this novel I found myself nodding my head in agreement to some of the confusion Benjamin expressed.
At different times, each character is ultimately pushing away and denying that they are any good for each other. They both go into detail within their minds of different sexual exploitations with other partners, but it always seems as there is a constant void lingering within them. No matter how many people they are physically with, it’s inconceivable to completely forget each other and the raging passion they ignite. As quoted from the book, “the only things truly in the past are things completely forgotten” and while both Kay and Benjamin long to be at that point, it does not seem possible with how Minot divulges into their inner deliberations. This is possibly my favorite quote from the entire novel as it sheds light on the fact that people never fully let go of things like they say they do. It takes a lifetime to forget someone such as an ex-lover, but to lie to them and say they are in the past happens quite frequently.
I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed getting caught up within the two stories these people have provided. Looking at this story as a writer, one can see the characterization is done exceptionally well because Minot allows the reader into both character’s minds. There is nothing left to imagination in terms of Kay and Benjamin’s thoughts and this provides for generous character developments.
New York: Knopf, 2002
“Rapture” by Susan Minot introduces two past lovers that have met up for what seems to be the final time in their twisted “relationship.” It begins with the two engaging in sexual activity, but the majority of the story is reflection. The tale recounts the numerous times these two, Kay Bailey and Benjamin Young, had lost themselves within passions of lust for each other, despite any commitments they were in. While Kay and Benjamin both admit at some point to have fallen hopelessly in love with one another, their lives never meshed together at the correct times for a functional relationship to begin. The novel switches points of view between the two and goes in-depth on what each character is thinking. The inner thoughts they have about the other are finally acknowledged within their own minds and throughout the story constant revelations come about. The inner dialogue each has about the history they share continues to shed more and more light onto who they really are. It is as though Minot wished this tale to take more emphasis on character development than a plot and it seems to have worked well.
An interesting wrench thrown into this novel is the fact that Benjamin does have an on again, off again fiancé named Vanessa. There were times when Benjamin was with Vanessa that he went on a secret rendezvous with Kay, thus creating tension within his own complex. While he admits to having love for both women, he explains how he’s fallen out of love with his fiancé, but is plagued by the guilt that revolves around his situation. Minot executes this perfectly by including just enough of Vanessa’s story within Benjamin’s thoughts to exemplify to the reader how perplexed this man was. He cannot decide which woman is better for him, the one who has been there throughout his life and has been his rock, or the one who ultimately makes him feel alive. This is probably an instance that has occurred within several people’s lives and while reading this novel I found myself nodding my head in agreement to some of the confusion Benjamin expressed.
At different times, each character is ultimately pushing away and denying that they are any good for each other. They both go into detail within their minds of different sexual exploitations with other partners, but it always seems as there is a constant void lingering within them. No matter how many people they are physically with, it’s inconceivable to completely forget each other and the raging passion they ignite. As quoted from the book, “the only things truly in the past are things completely forgotten” and while both Kay and Benjamin long to be at that point, it does not seem possible with how Minot divulges into their inner deliberations. This is possibly my favorite quote from the entire novel as it sheds light on the fact that people never fully let go of things like they say they do. It takes a lifetime to forget someone such as an ex-lover, but to lie to them and say they are in the past happens quite frequently.
I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed getting caught up within the two stories these people have provided. Looking at this story as a writer, one can see the characterization is done exceptionally well because Minot allows the reader into both character’s minds. There is nothing left to imagination in terms of Kay and Benjamin’s thoughts and this provides for generous character developments.
February 16, 2011
In 2002, Susan Minot’s Rapture was published out of New York—her fifth book and quite possibly her most straight-forward yet complex novel written. Straight-forward in that the entire novel is written around one act of fellatio, and complex in that it delves into the minds of both participants, revealing the harsh differences between the minds of men and women. The novel opens with a small description of the setting that spans the entire story: a man with “arms flung down at his sides, legs splayed out and feet sticking up, naked,” and “the figure also naked embracing his lover body and swiveling her head in a sensual way.” Minot carries on the story skillfully with a mixture of streams of consciousness and flashbacks of both characters, which is completely necessary to make certain this oral sex session extends its 116 pages.
After a year of not seeing each other, Benjamin Young, a filmmaker struggling for success, and Kay Bailey, a new-hire for his eight-year-long movie endeavor, decide to meet up for a friendly lunch, but find themselves in her New York apartment bed once more. The premise of the story is that Kay and Benjamin reconnect after he reveals to her that he and his fiancée, Veronica, have ended their long-standing relationship once and for all. What he fails to mention is he is still very much in love with Veronica, not Kay, and in an attempt to win her back, has plans to meet with her immediately after his rendezvous with Kay.
The entire novel is essentially built upon the contrasts between man and woman. Throughout Benjamin’s flashbacks, we learn the tale of a man who was unhappily engaged to his lover of 11 years, and sought out the comfort and affection in another woman. On the flipside, Kay’s past largely involved shutting Benjamin out of her life, despite the beautiful intimacy they shared, because he failed to end his relationship with Veronica to be with her. In one of Benjamin’s flashbacks, Minot writes “and slowly but surely is revealed to you your miserable situation in all its miserable perspective.”
Ironically, the tables turn as the novel goes back to the present, and it is Kay who will find herself miserable in the end, as Benjamin has no intention of being with her again, rather, has hopes of reconnecting with Veronica.
During Kay’s stream of consciousness, Minot reveals the progression of her thought process—from wondering what she was doing, to focusing on what she was doing, to forgetting their rough past, to her revelation: “all the frustration and sobbing and feeling worthless was the road they needed to travel to get where they were now. That they’d made it to here meant that he was, well, something like her fate. Meant for her after all. The only way to process it was to forgive. Everything. Him. Herself.” But just as Kay’s thoughts build higher and higher, Benjamin’s thoughts spiral downward—from realizing “he lied too much and fucked up to badly,” to seeing “he was damned,” to admitting he was a “hideous human being,” to the final words of the novel: “He wondered if Kay had any idea how really fucking sad this was, or how wretched he felt, or how polluted he was, or really how bad. . . she’d learn, soon enough.”
After a year of not seeing each other, Benjamin Young, a filmmaker struggling for success, and Kay Bailey, a new-hire for his eight-year-long movie endeavor, decide to meet up for a friendly lunch, but find themselves in her New York apartment bed once more. The premise of the story is that Kay and Benjamin reconnect after he reveals to her that he and his fiancée, Veronica, have ended their long-standing relationship once and for all. What he fails to mention is he is still very much in love with Veronica, not Kay, and in an attempt to win her back, has plans to meet with her immediately after his rendezvous with Kay.
The entire novel is essentially built upon the contrasts between man and woman. Throughout Benjamin’s flashbacks, we learn the tale of a man who was unhappily engaged to his lover of 11 years, and sought out the comfort and affection in another woman. On the flipside, Kay’s past largely involved shutting Benjamin out of her life, despite the beautiful intimacy they shared, because he failed to end his relationship with Veronica to be with her. In one of Benjamin’s flashbacks, Minot writes “and slowly but surely is revealed to you your miserable situation in all its miserable perspective.”
Ironically, the tables turn as the novel goes back to the present, and it is Kay who will find herself miserable in the end, as Benjamin has no intention of being with her again, rather, has hopes of reconnecting with Veronica.
During Kay’s stream of consciousness, Minot reveals the progression of her thought process—from wondering what she was doing, to focusing on what she was doing, to forgetting their rough past, to her revelation: “all the frustration and sobbing and feeling worthless was the road they needed to travel to get where they were now. That they’d made it to here meant that he was, well, something like her fate. Meant for her after all. The only way to process it was to forgive. Everything. Him. Herself.” But just as Kay’s thoughts build higher and higher, Benjamin’s thoughts spiral downward—from realizing “he lied too much and fucked up to badly,” to seeing “he was damned,” to admitting he was a “hideous human being,” to the final words of the novel: “He wondered if Kay had any idea how really fucking sad this was, or how wretched he felt, or how polluted he was, or really how bad. . . she’d learn, soon enough.”
October 5, 2011
I fell in love with Susan Minot's writing when I was introduced to her short-story titled Lust. Minot's writing is bold when it comes to topics that are at times looked down on. Susan Minot has no qualms about expressing her thoughts on human sexuality through her writing. Susan Minot's novel Rapture is no different than her previous novels, the story allows the reader passage to the most intimate thoughts of a human being. Minot understands the vulnerability involved in sharing thoughts that are sexual in nature, with her main character Benjamin and Kay, the reader experiences these secret private moments that go through a person's mind.
Minot's Rapture deals with the reality of lust, love, loneliness and raw human emotion. Rapture tells the story of two people that were lovers and have reunited once again under casual circumstances. The novel also deals with how both the male and female sexes handle these emotions and situations. Benjamin and Kay thought they were each others forever but after all feelings can be transient. Benjamin finds himself in love with two women, Vanessa his fiancé and Kay a woman he just met. For Benjamin, it is love at first sight but Kay takes her time. Benjamin's love for Vanessa proves to be fickle because the pair engages in an affair. Through out the course of the novel, Benjamin and Kay's story is told by both characters. Benjamin and Kay have to deal with the fact that their initial arrangement is not enough to satisfy their emotional needs.
One of the techniques that Minot uses in this novel is the change of point of view. I found this technique to be genius, because the reader is given the opportunity to experience how each gender handles the situation. Minot chooses to repeat situations but in each characters point of view. It was amazing to see how a single moment can be so different depending on the character point of view. By switching from Benjamin to Kay, the reader gets to form a connect with each character and it helps to better understand their emotions. Benjamin's character was interesting, I found that reading his point of view was more honest than Kay. Benjamin was inconsistent with his relationships and seemed to be disconnected from all of it at times. Kay is the girl that fell in love and can't seem to stay away from a very confusing Benjamin.
It seems to be a must to mention the setting of the entire novel. I found the fact that Rapture is set in the time span of a single sexual act to be a bit uncomfortable and unique. In my opinion, it brought to the fore front the main issue in the relationship between Benjamin and Kay. Benjamin and Kay's relationship was based on physical need, the fact that during such an intimate act, they both choose to relive their past through individual thoughts instead of simply communicating. Overall, I did enjoy this novel, at times it was difficult to keep focused because of it's slow pace. This might not be my favorite novel from Susan Minot, but I admire her writing regardless of her setting choice.
Minot's Rapture deals with the reality of lust, love, loneliness and raw human emotion. Rapture tells the story of two people that were lovers and have reunited once again under casual circumstances. The novel also deals with how both the male and female sexes handle these emotions and situations. Benjamin and Kay thought they were each others forever but after all feelings can be transient. Benjamin finds himself in love with two women, Vanessa his fiancé and Kay a woman he just met. For Benjamin, it is love at first sight but Kay takes her time. Benjamin's love for Vanessa proves to be fickle because the pair engages in an affair. Through out the course of the novel, Benjamin and Kay's story is told by both characters. Benjamin and Kay have to deal with the fact that their initial arrangement is not enough to satisfy their emotional needs.
One of the techniques that Minot uses in this novel is the change of point of view. I found this technique to be genius, because the reader is given the opportunity to experience how each gender handles the situation. Minot chooses to repeat situations but in each characters point of view. It was amazing to see how a single moment can be so different depending on the character point of view. By switching from Benjamin to Kay, the reader gets to form a connect with each character and it helps to better understand their emotions. Benjamin's character was interesting, I found that reading his point of view was more honest than Kay. Benjamin was inconsistent with his relationships and seemed to be disconnected from all of it at times. Kay is the girl that fell in love and can't seem to stay away from a very confusing Benjamin.
It seems to be a must to mention the setting of the entire novel. I found the fact that Rapture is set in the time span of a single sexual act to be a bit uncomfortable and unique. In my opinion, it brought to the fore front the main issue in the relationship between Benjamin and Kay. Benjamin and Kay's relationship was based on physical need, the fact that during such an intimate act, they both choose to relive their past through individual thoughts instead of simply communicating. Overall, I did enjoy this novel, at times it was difficult to keep focused because of it's slow pace. This might not be my favorite novel from Susan Minot, but I admire her writing regardless of her setting choice.
October 12, 2010
Minot, Susan
Rapture
Vintage Books, A Division of Random House, Inc. 2003
Love is often full of misunderstandings. It can be misleading, confusing, and even heartbreaking. But above all, love is a lifetime experience that renders the body to feel and do things the mind cannot comprehend.
Susan Minot’s contemporary novel, Rapture, is the story of two people, Kay and Benjamin, and their journey for love through sex. Minot cleverly weaves her characters together in a series of rapid flashbacks during a single performance of fellatio. However, the book is not altogether a classic romance novel; it is more of a dirty sex novel, without all the dirty sex, that leaves the reader simultaneously wishing for more and for the story to be over.
Benjamin suffers throughout the novel, as the book jumps from past to present, each moment leading the reader to Benjamin’s inner thoughts, fully knowing that “he had fucked it up.” He revels in his own misconduct venturing from the security of his relationship with Vanessa, his girlfriend/fiancé of nearly eleven years, to the temporary satisfaction of Kay’s bed, and even to some wild nights at bars where he found women that were “smiling and unworried” and that “seemed to share a total lack of qualms about unbuckling his belt and unbuttoning his pants.” It is in this light that the book repeatedly finds Benjamin, wanting all the pleasures of love, but not the commitment.
Kay is very nearly the opposite of Benjamin, a juxtaposition that Minot does not hesitate to point out. While aware of the fact that Benjamin is not good for her, and that he possesses every quality that she ought to fear in a man, Kay is irrevocably drawn to him. Her battle lies in wanting to be in a committed relationship, possibly with Benjamin, but knowing that he is nowhere near as ready for that relationship as she is. Still, she finds herself fantasizing about what he could do to her in bed to make herself more comfortable with love.
It is this very backwards way of thinking that Minot’s book explores the concept of wishing away problems in love. The book dives into an almost Freudian level of Psyche exploration, leaving the reader in constant revelry of the characters’ actions, yet somehow aloof as to why they keep making these painful decisions.
Perhaps on a deeper level Minot’s book deals with the unbalance of love. She does this by venturing into the deepest recesses of her character’s minds, where Benjamin, particularly, wonders at the deeply rooted lives of New Yorkers, “Unless you were high up in a building or happened to glimpse it at the end of one of the big avenues going east-west, all you knew of the sunset was a darkening in the air. No wonder people in New York were so unbalanced. They were totally untouched by the rhythms of nature.” This is the closest Minot comes to offering an explanation for Kay’s and Benjamin’s actions, because love, like many aspects of life, is indescribable.
Rapture
Vintage Books, A Division of Random House, Inc. 2003
Love is often full of misunderstandings. It can be misleading, confusing, and even heartbreaking. But above all, love is a lifetime experience that renders the body to feel and do things the mind cannot comprehend.
Susan Minot’s contemporary novel, Rapture, is the story of two people, Kay and Benjamin, and their journey for love through sex. Minot cleverly weaves her characters together in a series of rapid flashbacks during a single performance of fellatio. However, the book is not altogether a classic romance novel; it is more of a dirty sex novel, without all the dirty sex, that leaves the reader simultaneously wishing for more and for the story to be over.
Benjamin suffers throughout the novel, as the book jumps from past to present, each moment leading the reader to Benjamin’s inner thoughts, fully knowing that “he had fucked it up.” He revels in his own misconduct venturing from the security of his relationship with Vanessa, his girlfriend/fiancé of nearly eleven years, to the temporary satisfaction of Kay’s bed, and even to some wild nights at bars where he found women that were “smiling and unworried” and that “seemed to share a total lack of qualms about unbuckling his belt and unbuttoning his pants.” It is in this light that the book repeatedly finds Benjamin, wanting all the pleasures of love, but not the commitment.
Kay is very nearly the opposite of Benjamin, a juxtaposition that Minot does not hesitate to point out. While aware of the fact that Benjamin is not good for her, and that he possesses every quality that she ought to fear in a man, Kay is irrevocably drawn to him. Her battle lies in wanting to be in a committed relationship, possibly with Benjamin, but knowing that he is nowhere near as ready for that relationship as she is. Still, she finds herself fantasizing about what he could do to her in bed to make herself more comfortable with love.
It is this very backwards way of thinking that Minot’s book explores the concept of wishing away problems in love. The book dives into an almost Freudian level of Psyche exploration, leaving the reader in constant revelry of the characters’ actions, yet somehow aloof as to why they keep making these painful decisions.
Perhaps on a deeper level Minot’s book deals with the unbalance of love. She does this by venturing into the deepest recesses of her character’s minds, where Benjamin, particularly, wonders at the deeply rooted lives of New Yorkers, “Unless you were high up in a building or happened to glimpse it at the end of one of the big avenues going east-west, all you knew of the sunset was a darkening in the air. No wonder people in New York were so unbalanced. They were totally untouched by the rhythms of nature.” This is the closest Minot comes to offering an explanation for Kay’s and Benjamin’s actions, because love, like many aspects of life, is indescribable.
November 14, 2011
Susan Minot’s “Rapture” is a story of two lovers, Kay and Benjamin, and their complicated relationship. The novel’s entirety takes place during a sexual act at Kay’s New York apartment. Minot uses the character’s minds and memories to tell the story of their relationship. Benjamin is an independent filmmaker who meets Kay, a production designer, on a film set in Mexico. Despite Benjamin’s engagement to Vanessa, the two have an affair that seems very casual at first. As the story progresses, the reader learns how the opposite sex interprets sex and relationships.
The characters of this novel were very developed. I liked the way Minot used their memories to drive the plot. It was based highly on “he said, she said” which worked very well in establishing the relationship between Kay and Benjamin. The character of Kay was very stereotypical. This woman became addicted to Benjamin who she knew was already engaged. In the novel says she “spends most of her time trying forget about him then trying to talk to him.” This is interesting because of how serious we learn their relationship has become. Benjamin on the other hand was the typical guy who cannot decide what exactly he wants. Benjamin has a fiancé Vanessa, who has been with him for years but leads Kay on for the thrill. He feels he needs to keep Kay on the side at the chance he finally gets the courage to break things off with Vanessa. However, he is not sure he wants to do that.
Minot changes the point of view very often in this story. This worked very well because we get to experience both perspectives of the characters. Although we want to hate the antagonist, Benjamin, for being dishonest and unfaithful, we can’t help but feel sorry for him. He has had inconsistency in all his relationships and never feels fully satisfied with his life. With the perspective of Kay, who should be the protagonist, gets less sympathy because of her actions. She makes so many blatant mistakes that it is impossible not to think, “I told you so.”
The setting of this plot is unique but crucial. It is the basis of the entire relationship, purely physical. Sexual encounters with no communication. The characters do not speak at that moment, unless it is referred to in the past. Given their circumstances and relationship, I couldn’t imagine a better or more realistic setting than this.
All in all, I thought this was a wonderful and unique experience. To write an entire novel based in a span of 20 minutes is remarkable. Minot kept the piece free flowing by consistently changing perspectives with memories and present action. This allowed the reader to gain access to both characters and develop some sort of relationship with each of them. When writing a piece as complicated and real as this, establishing a relationship with the reader is the most important. As a writer, I find this to be the first thing I think about and hope to learn from the style of Minot.
The characters of this novel were very developed. I liked the way Minot used their memories to drive the plot. It was based highly on “he said, she said” which worked very well in establishing the relationship between Kay and Benjamin. The character of Kay was very stereotypical. This woman became addicted to Benjamin who she knew was already engaged. In the novel says she “spends most of her time trying forget about him then trying to talk to him.” This is interesting because of how serious we learn their relationship has become. Benjamin on the other hand was the typical guy who cannot decide what exactly he wants. Benjamin has a fiancé Vanessa, who has been with him for years but leads Kay on for the thrill. He feels he needs to keep Kay on the side at the chance he finally gets the courage to break things off with Vanessa. However, he is not sure he wants to do that.
Minot changes the point of view very often in this story. This worked very well because we get to experience both perspectives of the characters. Although we want to hate the antagonist, Benjamin, for being dishonest and unfaithful, we can’t help but feel sorry for him. He has had inconsistency in all his relationships and never feels fully satisfied with his life. With the perspective of Kay, who should be the protagonist, gets less sympathy because of her actions. She makes so many blatant mistakes that it is impossible not to think, “I told you so.”
The setting of this plot is unique but crucial. It is the basis of the entire relationship, purely physical. Sexual encounters with no communication. The characters do not speak at that moment, unless it is referred to in the past. Given their circumstances and relationship, I couldn’t imagine a better or more realistic setting than this.
All in all, I thought this was a wonderful and unique experience. To write an entire novel based in a span of 20 minutes is remarkable. Minot kept the piece free flowing by consistently changing perspectives with memories and present action. This allowed the reader to gain access to both characters and develop some sort of relationship with each of them. When writing a piece as complicated and real as this, establishing a relationship with the reader is the most important. As a writer, I find this to be the first thing I think about and hope to learn from the style of Minot.
February 18, 2011
Susan Minot’s novella Rapture opens on a graphic act of oral sex during a reconciliation between troubled lovers. Benjamin is a filmmaker, good-looking and masculine. Kay is a production manager, headstrong and personable. Both man and woman meet during a film shoot in Mexico, which serves as the catalyst for lust. However, Benjamin has a fiancé – the beautiful and successful Vanessa, who he claims to love but is “not in love with”. His meeting with Kay only manages to spark an immediate infatuation (“The first time I saw you, I knew my life was going to be different”). At first Kay maintains her distance from the engaged Benjamin, but both soon become involved in a passionate albeit tumultuous affair. Through flashbacks and interludes of sex, we identify the gradual deterioration of their relationship and individual self-worth.
Ostensibly, Minot’s writing reads like unabashed erotica, brimming with sexual metaphors, connotations, and similes (e.g. “He was like strong liquor trickling down, so warm inside of you, you wonder, Have I been so cold until now?”). Yet it does not seem to be Minot’s intention to present her writing as ostentatious or titillating towards readers. Her rhythm is sensual but her prose is subtle, lyrical and sophisticated – without being explicit in its description of sex. In sharp contrast, her use of language and tone through both of Benjamin and Kay’s nostalgic recollections evoke a child-like, fanciful notion of being in love. For example:
He said good-bye to her and she smiled and kissed him on the mouth. She had her hair in a ponytail and he watched her walk away, the person he loved […] He could also say that that day might be remembered as the last time he’d felt anything close to being in love (page 50).
Unfortunately, much of the reader’s connection to these two characters may be distant and mottled at best. Benjamin and Kay evoke no easy sympathy as the male is a narcissistic philanderer and the female a fool to her own emotions. The introspective, omniscient narrative reveals the insecurities that undermine these two characters. Benjamin is in love with Kay, but cannot seem to veer from his commitment to Vanessa. Kay is a weak at heart and is quick to romanticize her sentiments as much as Benjamin. Each of their misunderstandings and memories of the relationship results in conflicting views, as well as their own undoing. Minot evidently seems to have a firm grasp over the nuances of sexuality and intimacy between the male and female; in which sex is the ultimate consummation of bringing them together, healing old and fresh wounds, and eventually destroying them. As a result of Benjamin and Kay’s frailties and failures, Minot exposes the selfishness, debauchery, and self-destruction that encompass the human condition.
Ostensibly, Minot’s writing reads like unabashed erotica, brimming with sexual metaphors, connotations, and similes (e.g. “He was like strong liquor trickling down, so warm inside of you, you wonder, Have I been so cold until now?”). Yet it does not seem to be Minot’s intention to present her writing as ostentatious or titillating towards readers. Her rhythm is sensual but her prose is subtle, lyrical and sophisticated – without being explicit in its description of sex. In sharp contrast, her use of language and tone through both of Benjamin and Kay’s nostalgic recollections evoke a child-like, fanciful notion of being in love. For example:
He said good-bye to her and she smiled and kissed him on the mouth. She had her hair in a ponytail and he watched her walk away, the person he loved […] He could also say that that day might be remembered as the last time he’d felt anything close to being in love (page 50).
Unfortunately, much of the reader’s connection to these two characters may be distant and mottled at best. Benjamin and Kay evoke no easy sympathy as the male is a narcissistic philanderer and the female a fool to her own emotions. The introspective, omniscient narrative reveals the insecurities that undermine these two characters. Benjamin is in love with Kay, but cannot seem to veer from his commitment to Vanessa. Kay is a weak at heart and is quick to romanticize her sentiments as much as Benjamin. Each of their misunderstandings and memories of the relationship results in conflicting views, as well as their own undoing. Minot evidently seems to have a firm grasp over the nuances of sexuality and intimacy between the male and female; in which sex is the ultimate consummation of bringing them together, healing old and fresh wounds, and eventually destroying them. As a result of Benjamin and Kay’s frailties and failures, Minot exposes the selfishness, debauchery, and self-destruction that encompass the human condition.
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